Notice that I didn’t say “How to Lose” the Baby Weight. I wish I could tell you exactly {HOW} to lose the weight, hold your hand, and be there for you ever step of the way. But what I can do is SHARE with you my story and some things that helped me, including a printable weight chart { AND / OR } an online graph to track your weight. Here is my story…
I started off my pregnancy at 130 lbs (5 feet 8 inches) and expected that I would only gain around 20 lbs. But my baby and body had a different idea and I went up to 180 lbs – gaining 50 lbs total.
Reading that number on the scale was pretty shocking. I couldn’t believe that I went up to 180 lbs. I was eating really healthy during my entire pregnancy and exercising on the elliptical and going for long walks. I was even going to the gym up until the last two weeks.
{Here is a page from my scrapbook – the 38 week bump picture – I was at 175 lbs.}
My only guess is that all the Christmas food and Baby Shower indulgences caught up with me and packed on the pounds near the end. The main thing that mattered was that I felt great and had very few pregnancy issues or concerns. The only things I experienced were heartburn near the beginning which I was able to control by drinking pure pineapple juice and a temporary carpel tunnel swollen wrist (which made it super hard to hold a pen).
After giving birth in February 2012 {
Birth Story}, I mentally knew that the weight was there because I just nourished and carried a baby for 9 months. BUT I was having a super hard time with my body image and feeling good about myself. My husband kept saying 9 months on – 9 months off. But I wanted the weight to be gone yesterday! Of course if I had gained less weight it would have been easier, but again I seriously have no idea how this weight got packed on me. It just snuck up on me and suctioned its way ONTO my legs, butt, and stomach.
So what did I do?
Created a weight chart.
Set some goals.
And wore full body
Spanx 24 / 7. :)
{To make your own chart – Click on the picture or
download the Excel File}
{This Online Chart graphs your progress. You can use it to track your weight loss or maintain your weight. I am currently using it to maintain my current weight (in the image above) }
My goal was a pound a week. I didn’t want to do a full blown “diet” because I was breastfeeding. The chart helped me see that I was making progress even though it didn’t feel like it and with a new baby I needed to keep things simple.
I could have recorded everything I ate, counted calories, and documented my life to the nth degree. But for me… just circling a number each morning reminded me to make good food choices, exercise, and drink lots of water.
I started charting my weight about a month after I gave birth. On March 9, 2012 at 162 lbs, I started circling my weight each day and by September 2012 I was back down to 130 lbs. I could finally retire my
Spanx.
In summary, the following things helped me Lose the Baby Weight:
- Exercise – Took a stroller walk once a day and the rest of the day I carried my baby in the Ergo when we went shopping or ran errands.
- Drank TONS of water – and nothing else – no juices or sugary drinks
- Breastfeed exclusively until 6 months (and he still nurses a lot at 1 year)
- No Processed Food – Limited Sugar (even limited natural sugars like honey)
- Cut out Dairy – I didn’t realize my son had a dairy intolerance until he was about 5 months old – so I was losing weight before I cut out the dairy. I will admit that I love cheese, so dropping dairy from my diet probably helped shave off the last couple pounds.
- Some final personal things that helped me – During this time I was really busy packing and moving to Germany. It helped that I had tons of things going on in my life. We also went hiking a lot and enjoyed being outside. So the time of year helped me to lose the bulk of the weight during the spring, summer, and fall.
This probably sounds all fine and good, normal information, nothing shocking… but when I started googling “Losing the Baby Weight” the first and only thing that showed up was
celebrity weight loss pictures and stories. Ugghghgh. If I had compared myself to these celebrity women I would probably be so discouraged that I might never have lost the weight. That was one reason why I wanted to post my story because I am just a regular person who wanted to lose the weight.
These celebrity women worked very hard at keeping their weight gain low during their pregnancy. {That is great they were able to do that and there are lots of women who do keep their weight gain low – Yippy!!!}
Here’s the thing… IF I think about it tooooo much I {might} feel bad that I gained so much weight and it took 7 months for me to lose it. I learned that I needed to give myself a break and realize that it all worked our fine in the end and I felt great during my pregnancy. I just focused on slow and steady weight loss and NOT a 4-week bounce-back wearing-a-bikini weight loss strategy.
On the opposite side of the spectrum I found… the website
Scary Mom. She has a hilarious post called “
The Myth of Losing the Baby Weight”. Visit her site to enjoy funny honest vulnerable motherhood posts. Now this post about weight loss is something I can wrap my head around and stand behind :).
Here is an excerpt from her article (which is almost the entire post because it is too great to cut):
“I ran into an acquaintance the other day who had recently delivered a baby. She looked
phenomenal, with no remnants whatsoever of the baby weight lingering around.
“How the hell do you look like that?” I asked, not even attempting to mask my utter annoyance.
“Oh, you know,” she explained. “Since I had a baby plus a toddler, I just spend all of my time running after them so the weight fell off. Plus, I just never seem to remember to eat!”
That was
not the response I wanted to hear.
I’ve seen countless celebrities singing the same tune and it always makes me crazy. I have three kids and I have never once found myself running after them. Maybe I’ll dash over if I hear a loud thud followed by silence, but certainly not often enough to break a sweat. Sure, I’m with them constantly, but my normal pace is more like a saunter. My heart rate is steady and you could never call gently pushing a kid on a swing an aerobic workout.
And, how does one forget how to eat? Like, ever? …
If you’re rocking a post-baby body and I ask how you got it, please give me a response like:
“I’m starving and miserable, but I really wanted to get in these freaking jeans again”
“Breastfeeding. It’s the best diet ever.”
“I work my {butt} off at the gym 24/7.”
“Genetics. You should see my mom.”
“Honestly, I have no idea how the hell it came off so fast.”
Or, even the dreaded, “I’m eating less and moving more.”
Those I can understand. I can’t relate to them, but I can live with them.
But, please don’t give me the running around and forgetting to eat bull$#*!.
I’ve been there. I know better.”
Hope the chart and story helps someone else struggling with losing the baby weight or I guess any kind of weight gain. It wasn’t easy, but slow and steady wins the {results} and try to keep it simple, but not the simple carbs kind of simple :). XO Lots of Love – Judi
